Pro Bowl kicker Nate Kaeding is here to stay. Just three seasons into his young career, Kaeding is already regarded as one of the top kickers in team history. Last September, the Bolts signed their young kicker to a six-year contract extension that will keep him in San Diego through 2012. The week after he signed the extension, Nate went out and hit a career-long 54-yard field goal on the road in Baltimore. He didn’t slow down during the season, kicking his way into the record books with a team-record 136 points. Late in the season, Kaeding was selected to play in his first-career Pro Bowl and he closed out the league’s 2007 all-star game with a 21-yard field goal as time expired that gave the AFC a 31-28 win over the NFC. Kaeding ranked second in the NFL in kick scoring last season. He finished the year 26-of-29 (.897), for the second-highest FG conversion percentage in team history. He also set a new single-season record with 58 PATs and comes into 2007 having hit a team-record 129 in a row. Through his first three seasons, Nate has been successful on 67 of 78 field goal attempts (.859). His success rate through the first three years of his career is far higher than that of the team’s top all-time kickers, Rolf Benirschke and John Carney. Benirschke was 39 of 49 (.796) during his first three seasons (1977-79), while Carney was 64 of 82 (.780) in his first three campaigns (1990-92). Carney, however, did not begin kicking full time until 1990, his third year in the league. Kaeding is an avid golfer and frequently tees off with fellow special teamers David Binn and Mike Scifres. For the past two years, Kaeding has transferred some of his golfing experience onto the football field where he has enlisted the services of a local golf professional to videotape and analyze his leg swing. The golf pro attends offseason workouts with Nate to film him while he is kicking. After each session, the two review the tape to help Nate improve on his kicking mechanics. Nate is still renowned in his native Iowa City where one local restaurant, Bob’s Your Uncle Pizza and Cafe, named a pizza after the former Hawkeye standout. The Nate Kato Kaeding pizza is decked out with sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms and onions. The last two years, Nate has returned to Iowa City to host a football camp with several former Iowa Hawkeyes, including Charger teammates Mike Goff and Derreck Robinson, and Oakland Raiders tackle Robert Gallery. Kids who attend the camp receive instruction in football, soccer and basketball, all sports in which Nate excelled during his prep career at West High School. Nate is married to his longtime girlfriend, Samantha Gervich. She is a substitute teacher in San Diego. Nate too has a long-standing interest in education. He earned a teaching certificate in secondary studies from Iowa and is currently enrolled in the Character Education Certification Program at the University of San Diego. It’s a program designed for educators to enhance their knowledge and ability to assess character education in schools and communities. TRANSACTION HISTORY: Third-round draft pick (65) by San Diego, April 24, 2004 signed three-year contract July 26, 2004 2006: Selected to 2007 AFC Pro Bowl squad...named second-team All-Pro by Associated Press...named to All-AFC Team by Pro Football Weekly and Professional Football Writers of America...went 2 for 2 in season opener, hitting from 47 and 29 yards...actually missed kick from 42 yards in second quarter, but was run into by Oakland’s Nnamdi Asomugha, giving Bolts first down and four plays later he hit from 29...tied career-high with 4-for-4 effort Week 2 against Tennessee, hitting in order from 28, 31, 35 and 44 yards...hit career-long 54-yard field goal to tie team-record Oct. 1 at Baltimore...was 15th-consecutive made field goal which gave him third-longest streak in team history...streak ended when next kick was wide right from 40 yards out...bounced back from tough miss at Baltimore to go 3-for-3 in NBC Sunday Night game against Pittsburgh Oct. 8...all three makes (28, 33 and 22 yards) came in second half...also hit third touchback of season against Steelers, tying career-high...tied Rolf Benirschke’s team record with 87th consecutive made PAT on Oct. 15 at San Francisco...hit from 24 and 44 yards against 49ers, running string of good kicks to six in row...broke Benirschke’s record by hitting 88th consecutive PAT following Chargers’ first touchdown at Kansas City Oct. 22...named Chargers Alumni Player of Week following Chiefs’ game...racked up career-high three touchbacks at Denver Nov. 19...hit 42-yard field goal in extremely windy conditions at Buffalo Dec. 3...at Seattle on Dec. 24 went 2-for-2 on field goals in second half on 47-degree, rainy day with 18 mile per hour winds at kickoff...made both kicks in third quarter, including 46 yarder that gave Bolts 10-0 lead and 40 yarder that put them up 13-7...both would be huge as Chargers prevailed 20-17...scored nine points against Arizona in Dec. 31 season finale to raise season total to 136 and set new team kick-scoring record...slid past previous mark of 135, set by John Carney in 1994...hit both field goal tries against Cardinals, from 47 and 35 yards out...kicked game-winning field goal from 21 yards out for AFC as time expired in 2007 Pro Bowl. 2005: Hit lone field-goal attempt from 33 yards to break 21-21 tie late in third quarter of season opener against Dallas also recorded first touchback of season against Cowboys made 42-yard field goal with 5:21 remaining in fourth quarter at Denver Sept. 18 that tied game 17-17 Broncos won game short time later on last-second field goal had one touchback against Broncos and several kickoffs traveled into end zone hit lone field-goal attempt from 44 yards for final points in 45-23 win over New York Giants in ESPN Sunday Night Football game Sept. 25 recorded third touchback of season against Giants hit both field-goal attempts in 41-17 win at New England Oct. 2, connecting from 42 and 21 yards set new career high with three field goals in Oct. 10 Monday Night Football game against Pittsburgh, hitting all three attempts from 34, 32 and 41 yards nailed both field-goal attempts from 32 and 33 yards in 27-14 win at Oakland Oct. 16 hit 34-yard field-goal to give Chargers 17-10 lead in fourth quarter at Philadelphia Oct. 23 later in fourth quarter had 40-yard field goal blocked and returned 65 yards for touchdown and game winning points in 20-17 Eagles victory was first missed field goal of season hit lone field-goal attempt from 18 yards in fourth quarter for final points in 31-26 victory over New York Jets Nov. 6 converted kicks from 28 and 38 yards against Buffalo Nov. 20 also chalked up two special teams tackles versus Bills bounced back from misses of 42 and 46 yards to hit season-long 48-yarder to bring Bolts back to within 17-10 at Washington Nov. 27 began comeback in which Bolts went on to win 23-17 in overtime hit field goals of 41 and 32 yards in 34-10 ESPN Sunday Night Football win over Oakland Dec. 4 named Very Special Teams Player of Week by FOXSports.com and the Chargers Alumni Player of Week after hitting game-winning and season-long 49-yard field goal with 6:41 remaining in fourth quarter to lead Bolts to 26-17 win over previously-unbeaten Indianapolis Colts Dec. 18 set new career high with four field goals against Colts 49-yarder gave Chargers 19-17 lead after Colts had rallied from 16-0 deficit to take 17-16 lead also hit 36, 20 and 48-yard field goals 48-yarder was then-season-long and had given Chargers 16-0 edge. 2004: Named to Pro Football Weekly and ESPN.com All-Rookie Teams set team rookie record with 114 points was leading scorer among all NFL rookies finished season converting 20 of 25 field goals for impressive 80 percent 54 PATs for season were second-most in team history hit first-career field goal from 48 yards in season opener at Houston drilled 51-yard field goal in fourth quarter at Denver Sept. 26 nailed career-long 53-yard attempt at Atlanta Oct. 17 missed first-career field goal attempt from 29 yards in second quarter at Carolina Oct. 24 but bounced back with 44-yarder in fourth quarter to give Bolts 10-6 lead missed first-career PAT on block at Oakland Nov. 21 following game’s opening touchdown kicked game-winning 43-yard field goal with 2:24 remaining in fourth quarter at Kansas City Nov. 28 overcame difficult first half against Chiefs during which he missed field goals of 29 and 52 yards and had kickoff roll out of bounds with 10 points against Chiefs, raised point total for season to 83, third-most by rookie in team history 40-yard field goal with 2:06 remaining in fourth quarter helped ice 31-24 victory over Tampa Bay Dec. 12 finished Buccaneers game with seven points, including four PATs, to raise season total to 98 points, good to move into second place on team’s all-time list for rookie scoring drilled 50-yard field goal at Indianapolis Dec. 26 scored seven points against Colts to raise season total to 108, setting new rookie record, surpassing previous mark of 106 by Dennis Partee in 1968 hit 35-yard field goal in fourth quarter to bring Chargers within seven points in Wild Card Playoff game against New York Jets Jan 8. COLLEGE: Set school records for consecutive field goals (22), consecutive extra points (60), career field goals (67) and career extra points (166) set school and conference kicking record with 373 career points converted 24 of 29 career field goals beyond 40 yards made 20 of 21 as senior unanimous All-America choice as junior and senior including Associated Press Lou Groza Award winner as junior as nation’s top kicker two-time Academic All-America three-time All-Big Ten selection five-time selection as Big Ten Special Teams Player of Week two-time Academic All-Big Ten two-time team captain and three-time Special Teams Player of Year recipient of Hayden Fry Extra Heartbeat Award as senior National Honor Society student served on school’s Leadership Council played at Iowa from 2000-03 earned degree in history and secondary education. PERSONAL: Born March 26, 1982 in Iowa City, Iowa all-state and all-conference kicker at West High School in Iowa City set state records for kicking points (93), extra points (63) and touchbacks (53) as senior teams won consecutive state championships junior and senior seasons posting perfect 26-0 record lettered in basketball and soccer starting point guard on state championship basketball team as senior clinched state championship for soccer team senior year by scoring game-winning goal in overtime shootout.